Latest items for Burma/Myanmar

"10.2% of seats in the lower/single house of Burma/Myanmar (44 out of 433 total seats) are held by women. 10.4% of seats in the upper house/Senate of Burma/Myanmar (23 out of 221 total seats) are held by women"

"There were reports of rape by military and security officials in Kachin, Shan, and Rakhine States. The military rejected all allegations that rape was an institutionalized practice in the military but admitted in 2014 that its soldiers had committed 40 known rapes of civilian women since 2011. While there was no reliable estimate for rape cases nationwide, civil society groups observed an increase in the number of cases reported during the year"

"Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained a serious problem. Abuse within families was prevalent and considered socially acceptable. Spousal abuse or domestic violence was difficult to measure because the government did not maintain statistics. According to media reports, there were 700 cases of rape reported annually; however, statistics to verify this estimate were not available. There are laws that prohibit committing bodily harm against another person, but there are no laws specifically against domestic violence or spousal abuse, including spousal rape of women above 13 years of age. Punishment for violating the law includes prison terms ranging from one year to life, in addition to possible fines"more

"Rape and violence against women and girls is often surrounded by a culture of silence and rarely lead to police complaints, activists say. If such abuses happen within the household, complaints are even less likely as it is seen as a family matter, even by the police...Filing a criminal complaint of physical abuse in marriage is even harder, activists said, as police usually prefer community intervention and will tell victims to first ask ward or village officials to solve problems with their husbands. If ward officials agree, a woman can go to police, who will then ask for eye witnesses and bruises and scars as evidence...Myanmar’s laws provide strong punishment...more

According to the WHO violence and homocide statistics, the total femicide rate as of 2015 was 1.6 per 100,000 female population. For ages 15-44, the rate was calculated to be 1.10 per 100,000 female population.

During the fighting between Government army and Shan State Army (North), Government’s health workers have not only failed to provide health care service to refugees in Murng Hsu area but have also prohibited SWAN’s health workers from providing any service. In one case the government appointed midwife stationed in Hai Pa village ran away during the fighting. She came back to the village only after the fighting stopped. Then she took all the medicines that people donated for refugees to the government clinic in the village (Source: Shan Women’s Action Network) . . . Ma Tin Su, a government health worker and village tract hospital administrator based in Tha-yet-chaung Township,...more

During the fighting between Government army and Shan State Army (North), Government’s health workers have not only failed to provide health care service to refugees in Murng Hsu area but have also prohibited SWAN’s health workers from providing any service. In one case the government appointed midwife stationed in Hai Pa village ran away during the fighting. She came back to the village only after the fighting stopped. Then she took all the medicines that people donated for refugees to the government clinic in the village (Source: Shan Women’s Action Network) . . . Ma Tin Su, a government health worker and village tract hospital administrator based in Tha-yet-chaung Township,...more

"Shan: A Shan woman who was a single mother of two has her own job supporting herself and her children. Around 2011-2012, she went to get a new ID card at an immigration office in Southern Shan State. She also applied for a new house registration for her family. Rationally, she should be named the head of household since she has no husband. However, the immigration officer did not let her name use as a head of household, but put her father’s name instead and registered her as “dependent”. Source: Burmese Women's Union (BWU). Lahu: A Lahu woman in her late 30s was separated from her husband when her son...more

"Shan: A Shan woman who was a single mother of two has her own job supporting herself and her children. Around 2011-2012, she went to get a new ID card at an immigration office in Southern Shan State. She also applied for a new house registration for her family. Rationally, she should be named the head of household since she has no husband. However, the immigration officer did not let her name use as a head of household, but put her father’s name instead and registered her as “dependent”. Source: Burmese Women's Union (BWU). Lahu: A Lahu woman in her late 30s was separated from her husband when her son...more

"The example can be seen in recent consultations for a planned Community Driven Development (CDD) program to be implemented in five townships of Sagaing Region by UNDP from 2016-2020. The two women who attended the first meeting to discuss the implementation of this program were not invited by the men to join the conversation. They had to listen to the conversation from the kitchen. As of the UNDP’s requirement, these two women were selected to serve in the village committee. Source: Kuki Women’s Human Rights Organisation (KWHRO)" (page 44).

"While all women in Burma face the same struggle to enjoy their rights under CEDAW, rural and ethnic women face additional hurdles and specific harms such as trafficking, unequal access to education and healthcare, land insecurity and the devastating impact of drug production and trade. Moreover, rural and ethnic women are directly implicated by armed conflict and the quest for peace. This gap between the experiences of women in cities and urban settings versus those of ethic women in rural areas must be understood and taken account when analyzing the status of women’s rights in Burma" (page 1). "Burma remains 'a source country for men, women, and children subjected to...more

"The so-called “Laws on the Protection of Race and Religion,” passed in February 2015, impose strict limitations on women’s rights, including the right to choose a spouse and the number and spacing of children" (page 4).

"While all women in Burma face the same struggle to enjoy their rights under CEDAW, rural and ethnic women face additional hurdles and specific harms such as trafficking, unequal access to education and healthcare, land insecurity and the devastating impact of drug production and trade. Moreover, rural and ethnic women are directly implicated by armed conflict and the quest for peace. This gap between the experiences of women in cities and urban settings versus those of ethic women in rural areas must be understood and taken account when analyzing the status of women’s rights in Burma" (page 1). Table: The Cost of Childbirth in WLB Surveyed Ethnic Areas presents cost...more

"First and foremost, the Constitution itself establishes structural barriers to equality, and discriminates outright against women through failing to provide a CEDAW-compliant definition of discrimination and limiting job opportunities for women. It also discriminates against women indirectly by establishing the Parliamentary quotas for the military. Most of the laws that relate specifically to women are outdated, such as the Penal Code of 1861, and many laws, regulations, and policies (including customary law) are disadvantageous and discriminatory towards women. Laws passed since 2011 often did not take women’s concerns into account and some, such as the Laws on Race & Religion, are discriminatory outright. Women also do not enjoy protection from...more

"The traditional Buddhist practice of Hgay-toe-boe proscribes women from participating in village life and in Karenni State menstruating girls are sent to live in a hut set apart from the village so that she does not pollute the village" (page 7). "Karenni communities who practice the Hgay-toe-boe Buddhist tradition have a set of restrictive “do and don’t” practices for menstruating women. This is the practice that has existed for many generations and violations cause loss of self-confidence, discrimination and blame from the community. When menstruating, Karenni women are not allowed to: offer flowers to the Buddha’s shrine, offer meals, sit in the front in the monastery, cook rice wine (because...more

"Women lose economic and job opportunities due to development projects, which employ mostly men and which use up arable land. Drug use also places burdens on women to provide economically for fractured families, often forcing women to choose exploitation to secure livelihood. Women and children are also left behind as a result of conflict, forcing women to assume livelihood responsibility for the family" (page 18).

"Gender bias at the village level influences matrimonial matters as well; a man is always granted his request for a divorce while a woman may be denied or have to pay for one" (page 28). "Kuki: By Kuki customary law, when a woman and a man get divorced, women do not have the right to any inheritance. In the case of divorce, women are not allowed to sit in the meeting to resolve the case, and are not entitled to custody of their children or any compensation. Source: Kuki Women’s Human Rights Organisation (KWHRO)" (page 84).

"In addition to court-related costs, complainants must pay for transportation, and often the courts are far away and the process is long which requires many trips, especially for assault cases . . . Perpetrators frequently bribe judges for a favorable outcome or to postpone hearings in order to discourage victims. There also is an expectation that a winning lawyer will give a “present” or "pay respect" to a judge in order to expedite or win future cases. Bribes are considered normal and personnel who refuse bribes are culturally ostracized . . . As a result, often women victims are victimized again by the rigged legal system" (page 28). "Women Human...more

"Women and children carry much of the burden of the impact of illicit drugs as men are most likely to be drug users in the community. Due to their husband’s drug use, married women of drug users are commonly left with all the burdens of raising a family, including income generation, household work and childcare; In the family of drug addicted, there are increased rates of violence and instability and increased hardship for the family as they tend to become impoverished, with husbands stealing women’s earnings as money for drug use. Source: Palaung Women's Organization (PWO) and the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN)" (page 43).